


war of gods

by adykera



Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Gods & Goddesses, Alternate Universe - Mythology, Blood and Injury, F/F, Minor Bow/Glimmer (She-Ra)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-11
Updated: 2020-08-11
Packaged: 2021-03-05 19:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,272
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25850557
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adykera/pseuds/adykera
Summary: Adora finds Catra wounded on the battlefield and takes her in to help her heal with help from her sword. Catra, a soldier, and Adora, a young clueless goddess, start off as friends - before having their relationship complicated by the war they both have stakes in.
Relationships: Adora/Catra (She-Ra)
Comments: 9
Kudos: 48





	war of gods

**Author's Note:**

> rated T for violence, blood, and mention of abuse

The instant Adora gets to the empty field, she drops to her knees, her hands clutching the dirt beneath her. She closes her eyes – she can feel the violence, the battle that had happened here, not long ago. She can feel the warmth of the wheat, both from the blazing sun and the energy of the people that had been here.

She’s too late. Everything is already over. Blood has already been spilled.

She pushes herself up slowly, the tip of her sword pressing into the earth. From the blade stretches thin blue lines, veins, etching the path of the bodies that had just passed here moments ago, then working backwards into time. First, the battle. Then, people passing through on horses, lovers walking hand in hand, a family that had once lived in this field –

A sharp noise interrupts her vision. Adora pulls her sword from the dirt and turns around, the lines shattering like broken glass. At the far edge of the field, where the golden wheat turns to greenery and ancient trees, lies a few exhausted bodies. One waves her hand frantically, then cups her hands to her mouth and yells again.

“Please, come!”

Adora quickly transforms her sword into a metal armband, then picks up the edges of her robe, striding quickly through the grasses. Her bare feet carry her almost frantically to the set of people – then she stops suddenly just a few feet away. The thick, yellowing leaves of the tree above the four of them stretches strange shadows across their flesh. The girl who had yelled for her has now leaned down over another body, her hands pressed to the other’s middle.

The girl looks up, fear shaking in her emerald eyes. “She won’t stop bleeding.”

Adora slowly creeps forward, then lowers herself. The body in front of her twitches in pain, creaks her eyes open just a fraction. She takes Adora’s hand instantly and squeezes tightly.

She squeezes back, then lets her hand go. Adora roughly tears the sleeves of her robe off, then presses them over the wound. The wounded girl groans loudly and curls her hands into fists.

“She needs healing,” Adora says, eyes flicking up to the green-eyed girl again. “Let me take her back with me.”

“She’s too hurt,” a boy in the shadows cries nervously. “Where would you take her?”

Adora slides one hand under the girl’s shoulder and another under her knees, gently lifting her to her chest. The other girl stands, her hand wrapped around hers.

“She’ll be fine,” Adora says, ignoring the question. “I’ll help her find you when she’s better.”

And without another word, Adora squeezes her eyes shut and sinks back into her realm.

* * *

Instantly, shrill yelling pierces Adora’s ears. She cringes as her smaller friend appears in front of her, a young man perched behind her anxiously.

“Where did you go? Angella _told us_ –“ Glimmer cuts short at the sight of the girl in Adora’s arms. “Who is that? What happened?”

“I’ll tell you later. Just open the door for me.”

Adora and Glimmer race down the marble hallway, sunlight speckling the floor like freckles. She notices the spot of blood dripping from the girl in her arms, a strangely human and frightening thing against the purity of the temple.

“Adora, come on!”

Adora throws herself into the room and places the girl on the ivory silk bed. The girl wraps her arms around her middle, her eyebrows furrowed deeply. Adora roughly yanks her sword into its shape and presses her hands on its hilt. The turquoise jewel begins to glow white and Adora’s arms begin to shake with energy.

“Are you sure you can do this?” Glimmer asks.

“Yes!” Adora cries, the white glow from the gem quickly fading. “Get out!”

Glimmer hesitantly obliges and Adora barely registers the click of the door behind her as she tries to pull the power from her blade once again. _Breathe, Adora. You can do this_.

Suddenly, the small room gleams with white, and when she drops the sword, her hands shimmer. She hovers her hands over the girl’s stomach, her glowing white eyes locked on the other’s mix-matched ones.

She slowly drops her hand to the girl’s skin and white-hot veins shoot from the wound, winding their way around her torso, then up to her shoulders and down to her thighs. The girl closes her eyes again, smoothly this time, and lets out a heavy breath. Eventually, the thin white lines evaporate, and Adora lifts her hands up.

The girl is still, only her chest rising and falling slowly. Adora looks down at her stretched hands, then at the wound through the massive tear in her shirt. A soft, pink line stretches from her ribs to her naval, but the bleeding has certainly stopped. And the young soldier seems to be in considerably less pain.

Adora breathes out and smiles incredulously. She _did_ it. She actually did it. She crosses to the other side of the bed and pulls herself up onto the soft comforter. Her knees bent slightly and her hands pressed under the side of her face, Adora peers curiously over at the girl. Her dark, messy hair splays out wildly around her head, framing her face like a large crown.

She lifts her hand and hesitantly brushes dirt from the girl’s arm, her fingertips barely even grazing the skin. Her clothes, also filthy, are torn and soaked in blood. Adora almost wants to wake the girl up just to let her sleep in warm, clean clothes, but decides against it. To bother that calm face, dusted sweetly with brown freckles, seems a crime.

Some time later, the girl wakes up, stiff, but infinitely better than before. She props herself up on the sky-blue pillows behind her and stretches her arms above her head. A honey-like liquid rests on the bedside table in a crystal glass, and she presses it to her lips. It instantly warms her body and relieves the dull aching in her middle.

She glances out the window across from her, a green meadow dotted with flowers stretched out along the horizon. The sun hangs lazily in the sky, casting yellow light into the room. Catra, though unfamiliar with her surroundings, has a sense of calm and warmth in her stomach, and allows herself to sit for a moment, staring out through the glass. Though probably the drink or the magic providing her this feeling, she accepts it sweetly, and only moves when she looks at herself.

Her blood-stained clothes snap her back into her real life. She feels the cold sensation of fear in her throat, and throws off the bed covers, getting to her feet. She strips down, just the thin black chain hanging around her neck left, then pulls on the silky clothes left for her at the foot of the bed.

Before walking out the door, Catra catches herself in a mirror next to the bed. A cool white shirt hangs loosely over her shoulders and black pants clutch perfectly at her hips and down to her ankles. She rakes a hand through her hair, then opens the door.

“Ouch!”

Catra looks down at the boy in front of her on the floor, his hand pressed to the back of his head. He looks up at her, still smiling, then scrambles to his feet.

“Hi, I’m Bow, Adora’s friend. She told me to keep watch on you. How are you feeling?” he says, his voice high and friendly.

Catra rubs the back of her neck nervously. “Really good, actually. Thanks.”

“Come on. They’re in the kitchen trying to figure out how to cook for you.”

Bow leads Catra down the hallway, passing through dozens of doors on either side. When they get to the end, she stops and peers around the corner.

Glimmer and Adora are leaning over a long, mahogany table, various foods and cooking items stretched nearly the whole length. Glimmer smacks away Adora’s hand as she reaches over.

“Don’t touch it! It’s supposed to sit!”

“How do you even know that?”

“Bow’s dad told me. He knows everything about humans, Adora. Therefore, _I_ know everything.”

“That doesn’t even make sense. What, did you steal his mind? You can’t just –“

“Adora, Glimmer!” Bow intrudes noisily. “Our new friend is awake.”

Their heads swivel rapidly to Catra, still mostly hidden by the wall. She takes a step out and drops her shoulders nervously.

“Oh, how are you? Does it hurt at all?” Adora starts, her voice much softer than before. She crosses the room and takes Catra’s hands in her floury ones. Catra can feel heat rise to her face as she avoids Adora’s piercing blue eyes.

“No, I’m just a little stiff.”

Adora lets go of her hands and smiles. “Did you drink what I left for you?”

She nods. “Yeah… Actually, can I get some more of that?”

Adora laughs and heads back to the table. “In a little bit. It’s too early in the afternoon to get drunk still.”

Catra follows and peaks over Glimmer’s shoulder. “Are you trying to make… pasta?”

Glimmer turns around, beaming. “Yes! Does it look right?”

“Uh…” Catra pokes the grayish blob and frowns. “You guys don’t have to actually cook me anything, you know,” she says, wiping her hand on her pants. “I can go.”

Glimmer smacks her hand into her dough and it disappears into pink sparkles. Catra looks on incredulously, becoming more and more sure that this is just a fever dream, as Glimmer grabs eggs and flour in another attempt. Adora grabs an egg in each hand and wiggles them in Catra’s direction.

“You’re definitely not leaving yet. How about we try eggs instead?” she asks, eyebrows raised.

“Much better.”

Catra silently watches Adora cook, leaning against the pink and white marble lining the walls. Adora looks up sporadically for Catra’s approval and she gives a quick nod in return.

“So do you guys not eat or anything?” Catra eventually asks as Adora attempts to pry the food off the pan.

“We don’t need to, so not really. Eating is kind of just a… _cultural observation_ for us.”

Catra takes the pan away from Adora and dumps the eggs onto a plate with a smug smile. “What _are_ you then, huh? Witches or something?”

Adora snorts as Glimmer clears the table with a simple wave of her arm. The four of them sit down together at the end of the table, Adora across from Catra and Bow across from Glimmer. “ _No_ , we’re from Olympus. We’re gods.”

Catra’s eyebrows pull together and she takes her first bite. Not too bad. “You’re kidding me.”

Bow shakes his head, his eyes glued curiously on the plate in front of Catra. “I don’t think any of us have met a human before, actually.”

“So, what?” Catra starts. “Are you all, like, a thousand years old? Do you just live until the world explodes or something?”

“We’re only… what? Twenty-something?” Glimmer looks over at Adora, who shrugs. “Not a thousand years old, anyway.”

“They make _more_ of you?” At Adora’s raised eyebrows, Catra continues. “No offense, but you guys cause a lot of trouble for us. Do you know how many fights, even wars, we’ve had over what you guys tell us to do?”

“Are you serious? Humans are always the ones taking things out of context and fighting for _no_ _reason_ ,” Glimmer retorts. “Besides, no one cares about us anyway. The three of us could hang out on Earth for a millennium and no one would even notice.”

Catra gestures to her stomach. “Well, all I know is I almost got killed become some psychopath _goddess_ told her people to take over our land. I don’t even know why.” She continues eating, a little more harshly than before.

The trio in front of her makes strange eye contact, then settles into silence. Catra finishes her food slowly, then stands up, pushing in dark velvet chair with a dull scraping sound. “Can I get more of that stuff now?”

Adora shrugs and stands up, meeting Catra at the other end of the table. She takes her hand and pulls her through a dark wooden door. Adora shuts the door when they get inside and Catra looks around, her heart instantly beating faster. Aside from the blue gem on Adora’s arm, everything else around her is painted pitch black with darkness. Just as she grabs Adora’s arm, about to ask what they were doing here, sunlight pours in through the room. Catra quickly releases her arm.

Along the walls hangs maroon velvet and large portraits stretching nearly the entire length of the room. As Adora steps forward to the deep black altar at the end of the room, Catra turns to examine the closest portrait. A slim woman, long lilac hair. The way her eyebrows are arched, so precisely, almost intimidates Catra. She only realizes how long she’s been staring into those painted eyes when Adora appears at her side again, a large ceramic bottle in her hands.

“Who’s that?” Catra asks, a single finger pointing next to her.

“That’s Angella, Glimmer’s mom. She’s the goddess of the moon.” Adora looks back at Catra after a silent moment. “Who are _you_?”

“Catra.” She smiles awkwardly and pushes her hand through her knotted hair. “Goddess of nothing.”

Adora smiles back, an almost inquisitive look on her face, then cracks open the door. She places an eye over the opening, watching Glimmer begin another failed attempt at cooking… something. She shuts the door again and sets her bottle down. “Do you want to just stay in here for a little bit?”

“Sure.”

The pair sit down and Adora shakes her hands out, producing a crystal-clear glass in each one with a grin. She sets them down carefully, then pours the golden liquid into each. Catra watches with barely masked fascination, looking at the sunlight from the far windows dance on the metallic liquid. She places a finger in the liquid and sticks it in her mouth.

“Why does this taste so _good_?” Catra asks. “We don’t have this anywhere.”

“I honestly have no idea what this even is,” Adora admits after a small sip. “I just ask Angella for it and she usually gives it.”

“So I could be drinking the _moon_ right now?” she asks, an eyebrow raised. “Is this what being a god is like then?”

“Just a perk of the job, I guess. Otherwise it’s really boring, at least for now. Right now is the learning, training, studying phase of this whole thing,” she replies with a sigh. “I’ve never even been on Earth before seeing you.”

“Why’d you come?”

“Someone told me about a war going on and I wanted to see if I could help with anything.” She watches Catra take a big gulp of the mysterious liquid. “Why _do_ humans fight so much?”

Catra places a hand on her stomach, feeling the warmth travel down her throat to settle there. A hot, yellow glow seems to float over Adora, and it takes her a second to realize that she’d asked her a question. “I don’t know, I guess. Big guys make stupid decisions and people like me have to fight to get money or protect ourselves. In my case right now, the latter.”

“Someone is stealing your land, right?”

“Yeah, some big goddess and her people are taking over our villages, and the only way we can defend ourselves at this point is by fighting them off. It’s not going great though.”

Adora sighs, unsure what to respond. She allows a moment of quiet to pass, only the distant sound of Glimmer’s anger drifting through.

“You haven’t drank anything,” Catra notices, head nodding at her glass.

Adora, keeping eye contact with Catra, tips the glass back down her throat. She stops as she drinks the last drop, then lowers her cup, coughing with a laugh. Catra smiles and picks up the bottle, pouring her a bit more.

“Are you trying to get me drunk, Catra?”

“Maybe.”

Catra slowly drinks the rest of her glass, then lies back onto the cool marble floor. She can already feel the pleasant warmth rest in her head, her stomach. Adora lies down next to her, the bottle still sitting between them. The pair look up at the ceiling quietly.

“What are you the goddess of, Adora?” Catra asks eventually, shifting her head to meet Adora’s gaze. She squints slightly, trying to focus on the gray flecks in her eyes, then the curve of her soft pink lips. When she realizes what she’s doing, she turns back, eyes on the clouds painted on the ceiling above her.

“Balance. Pretty worthless,” Adora snorts. “Nothing cool like the _moon_ or something.”

“That’s not true. That’s… the most important thing there is.”

Catra’s voice is low and rough and it brings the heat back to Adora’s face. “You really think so?”

“You have to see the human world. Everything is an absolute mess, Adora. Rich people rule poor people, men rule women… it’s awful. The world needs someone like you.”

Catra turns to face Adora again and her blue eyes are wide, sparkling. “I want to help.”

“You will. I believe in you.”

Catra sits up and pours more of the drink into her cup, then turns back and looks down the long room to the black altar, the yellowing window of the late afternoon. She looks down at Adora, her silky white dress draping nicely over her shoulders, her hips, and her golden hair laid out behind her. She eyes the little curls along her hairline and resists the urge to touch.

“Are all humans as beautiful as you?” Adora asks, eyes still large.

Catra looks away, heat automatically rising to her ears. “Um, I don’t know. I think there are a lot of humans out there that are prettier than me.”

“You must all be much prettier than the gods then,” Adora replies calmly, sitting up next to her. She peers inside the bottle. Nearly empty.

Catra takes another sip and can suddenly feel her head swirling with nice warmth. She leans against the wall and smiles, flashing sharp white teeth. “I think I’m tipsy already.”

Adora laughs, the noise trailing down the rest of the room. Catra relishes in the sound. “Me too.”

“Goddesses can’t get _drunk_ , Adora. That’s… against the law. It just isn’t right.”

Adora stands up slowly, her legs moving outward slightly like a young deer. “Imagine having to live for eternity and not being able to get drunk. That’s why they give us _this_ stuff. Better than any of yours, huh?”

“Oh, definitely.” Catra raises her hands and Adora grabs them, pulling her to her feet. She stands just a few inches away from Adora and lets her hands drop slowly. “You’re so… tall.”

Adora laughs and breaks the tension. “I know!” She opens the door and allows Catra to slip through before closing the door behind her.

Catra steps into Adora’s bedroom, but her head is spinning too much to even process the room change. She just shakes her head and flops onto her bed, face first. “Why did you let me have more?” she moans into the sheets.

She feels Adora’s body get onto the bed. “’Posed to help heal. It’s good for you.”

“I don’t _feel_ good.”

“But does your wound hurt?”

“Nah, I guess not.” She turns around and looks up at Adora, who grins lazily down at her. “What now?”

Adora lays down, arms bent and hands pressed under her face. “I don’t know. What do you do when you’re drunk?”

Catra squeezes her eyes shut, then shoots them back open. “I dance.” She gets up, balancing herself on the bed post, then spinning around it. Adora sits up slightly and grins back at her.

“Dance for me,” she sings.

Catra moves dramatically across the room, giving Adora a couple of messy spins, then dipping herself on the other bed post. Adora stands up and catches her just as she starts to fall to the floor. Catra giggles softly and looks up, empty-minded, into her partner’s eyes.

Adora pulls her up, one hand on her waist and the other clasped in her hand. She raises their hands and Catra does a quick spin underneath. She reels back in laughter, nearly tripping over her own feet, when Catra grabs her waist. Adora leans back, a single hand on the bed to balance herself, and a broad smile stretching across her face.

“You’re a great dancer, Catra.”

“We should go dancing,” Catra replies, suddenly dead serious, her hands still holding Adora up.

“Okay, let’s do it.” Adora pushes herself up vertically again and the pair’s faces are just inches apart, but neither move back to push space between them. Catra catches Adora’s blue eyes shift down to her lips, then up again, across her freckles, then to her eyes.

“Is it… is it okay for a human to kiss a goddess? Or is that blasphemy or some sort?” Catra asks, voice low.

“I think it’s okay,” Adora says, a giggle coming out of her throat.

Without thinking any more about it, Catra presses her hand over top of Adora’s on the bed and presses their lips together. Adora instantly slides her hand up the side of Catra’s face, and she can feel her smiling in their kiss. She wraps her fingers in her long, dark hair, then—

Two knocks come from the other side of the door. The two instantly fly back from each other as if two opposite sides of a magnet, as a voice flutters through. “Hey, are you guys awake? I made bread for Catra, I think.”

Catra sits down on the bed behind her and laughs silently. “Um, no, actually,” Adora response, her voice barely concealing her amusement. “Catra fell asleep already.”

Glimmer’s disappointed sigh is loud enough to hear across the door. “Okay, I’ll save it for tomorrow. Goodnight.”

Adora sits down next to Catra and waits for Glimmer’s footsteps to disappear down the hallway. She lets out a heavy breathe and laughs awkwardly. “That was almost very embarrassing.”

Catra lays down, body curved towards Adora and a smug look on her face. “Have you ever kissed anyone before, Adora?” she asks lightly.

Adora looks away, hand rubbing the back of her neck. “Uh, no. I haven’t really met that many people in my life.” Her head flicks back to Catra’s face. “Was it bad?”

Catra laughs, her teeth flashing. “No, I was going to say that you’re good at it.”

Adora taps her fingers restlessly on the headboard behind her. “What if I do it… again?”

“Do you want to?”

“I think so.”

“Then do it.”

Adora looks down at Catra, the white silk shirt resting perfectly across her waist and the dull evening light splashing across her face softly. Adora turns, pressing one hand into the sheet on each side of Catra’s body. She slowly leans down and kisses her. Catra’s hands come up and link around Adora’s neck, gentle but firm.

When Adora comes up again, she watches the pink tint rise to Catra’s cheeks. She runs a thumb over it and smiles. “I don’t even know anything about you, Catra.”

“What do you want to know?”

Adora rests herself back onto the bed and the pair both turn to face each other, their knees touching. “Do you have any siblings?”

Catra laughs. “That’s what you want to know? I have one sister, Lonnie. She’s the one who was with me when you found us.”

“She doesn’t look like you.”

Catra shakes her head. “Well, we’re not blood related. We lived in an orphanage together and just stuck together after we were old enough to leave.”

Adora nods, though unfamiliar with most human concepts. “Do you have parents then?”

“Not really, no.”

Adora’s eyebrows furrow. She thinks of her own mother, how sometimes she’d wished she hadn’t had parents either. “Do you have parents?” Catra asks, seemingly reading Adora’s mind.

“Yeah, my mom is the goddess of illusion. Smoke and mirrors, that sort of thing,” Adora says, her eyes shifting away from Catra’s.

“You don’t like her, do you?”

Adora opens her mouth in defense, then thinks better of it. Somehow, Catra seems able to detect Adora’s thoughts and feelings, so she decides better against trying to fool her. “She can be very cruel. It’s been hard growing up with her.”

Adora leaves it at that and Catra decides not to push her. A light moment of silence passes between them for a minute or two, and they let themselves fit nicely into it. Though slightly more sober than before, Catra’s eyes begin to droop. Adora smiles at her.

“What are you smiling for?” she asks, just whiny enough to make Adora smile more.

“Just go to sleep, Catra. You’re exhausted.”

“I’ve barely been awake though,” she replies, forcing her eyes to stay open.

“You were just injured. You are allowed to rest.”

Catra moves her head over a bit, almost resting in the crook of Adora’s neck. “Fine. You sleep too.”

“Okay, I’ll sleep if you sleep.”

Adora looks down and Catra’s eyes are already closed. She wonders vaguely how long she’s been so tired, or if she really completely woke up from earlier. Either way, Adora’s long day of continuing Catra’s healing process while she slept, then stressing over her begins to wear down on her. She allows her eyes to close, and before long, the pair have drifted off into sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> i know this went kind of fast, but filler is not my specialty. I originally wanted catra to be the goddess instead, but it worked with the plot better for adora to be her. so anyway … let me know what you think! i'm @adykera on twitter, feel free to hit me up :) i'll try to get another chapter up soon!


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